He wasn't the team's winningest head coach -- that mark still belongs (and probably always will) to Bud Grant.

And he never did win a Grey Cup with the Bombers, although he came close in 2001 when a 14-4 team some regard as the best Bombers team never to win a Grey Cup were upset in the big game by the 8-10 Calgary Stampeders.

But what Dave Ritchie did do as Bombers head coach from 1999-2004 is consistently put quality football teams on the field filled with players who wanted only to please their head coach -- or die trying.

Four times in six seasons, those Ritchie-led Bombers teams made the playoffs, a record that looks all the more impressive from the present perspective of a franchise that has missed the CFL playoffs four times in the last five years.

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Hey there, time traveller!This article was published 27/8/2014 (1125 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

He wasn't the team's winningest head coach — that mark still belongs (and probably always will) to Bud Grant.

And he never did win a Grey Cup with the Bombers, although he came close in 2001 when a 14-4 team some regard as the best Bombers team never to win a Grey Cup were upset in the big game by the 8-10 Calgary Stampeders.

But what Dave Ritchie did do as Bombers head coach from 1999-2004 is consistently put quality football teams on the field filled with players who wanted only to please their head coach — or die trying.

Four times in six seasons, those Ritchie-led Bombers teams made the playoffs, a record that looks all the more impressive from the present perspective of a franchise that has missed the CFL playoffs four times in the last five years.

Ritchie was finally recognized for his accomplishments with the Bombers on Wednesday when club CEO Wade Miller announced Ritchie — along with former players Tony Norman and Jim Heighton and builder Bill Morton — are the 2014 inductees into the Winnipeg Football Club Hall of Fame.

A legend at the microphone every bit as much as he was on the field during his time in the CFL, Ritchie took advantage of the moment to poke fun at the diminutive former fullback that played for him who has since become the Bombers CEO.

"Even you Wade," Ritchie said via teleconference, "I'm glad you got up to about 5-3 now."

All kidding aside, Ritchie reflected on the lessons he learned while he was in Winnipeg, both on and off the field.

"I had a lot of things happen to me when I was in Winnipeg — my mom and dad died in the same month in September '99. I had a four-way bypass.

"Hey, how do you say it? I'm just glad to be alive."

Asked to identify the highlight of his time in Winnipeg, Ritchie not surprisingly pointed to the 2001 team that won 12 consecutive games during the regular season.

"The highlight of my time here was probably watching that 2001 team play," said Ritchie. "I've always said coaches coach as players play."

Ritchie posted a 52-44-1 record as the Bombers head coach. Those 52 wins put him third all-time among Bombers head coaches, behind Grant (102) and Cal Murphy (86).

But Ritchie also had some lean years in Winnipeg — the club was 6-12 in his first season in 1999 and 7-10-1 the next year. His .542 winning percentage with the Bombers is the lowest among the five winningest coaches.

Ritchie retired from football in 2008, but said Wednesday he finds it difficult to be out of the game.

He seemed genuinely touched on Wednesday that he was being remembered with induction into the Bombers Hall of Fame.

"I'm so happy to be in it. It's unbelievable. How would you say it press people — I'm a little bit speechless."

Honour roll

A pair of all-star defensive ends, a legendary head coach and a team builder are this year's inductees into the Winnipeg Blue Bombers Hall of Fame.

On Wednesday, the Bombers announced Tony Norman, Jim Heighton, Dave Ritchie and Bill Morton will be honoured Oct. 22 at the club's annual Legacy Dinner at Canad Inns Polo Park.

Here are summaries of each man's accomplishments with the Blue Bombers:

Dave Ritchie

HEAD COACH (1999-2004)

Career highlights: Guided the Bombers to four playoff appearances; lost the 2001 Grey Cup game; his 52-44-1 record as Bombers head coach is third, behind only Cal Murphy and Bud Grant.

Quote: "God blessed me pretty well... I had great coaches, great players and my wife could feed 108 players on Thanksgiving Day at our house."

Tony Norman

DEFENSIVE END (1980-86)

Career highlights: 59 sacks as a Bomber; three-time West Division all-star; member of the 1984 Grey Cup champions; Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame inductee (2010)

Quote: "I just about fainted. I didn't have any idea I'd be elected to the Hall of Fame... I'm still kind of shaky as you can tell from my voice. But being inducted into the hall is probably the greatest honour of my career."

Jim Heighton

DEFENSIVE END (1970-78)

Career highlights: 141 games as a player for the Bombers; two-time West Division all-star (1972, 1974)

Quote: (On hearing he'd been selected for induction): "It was like, wow! They'd forgotten me for so many years."

Bill Morton

BUILDER

Highlights: board member; driving force behind the establishment of the Winnipeg Football Club Hall of Fame in 1984; unofficial club historian.

Quote: (On whether he ever thought he'd get inducted into a Hall of Fame he helped to found): "I did not ever think that."

HE SAID IT

Dave Ritchie's daily sessions with the media were often as entertaining as any game his Bomber squads played. Here's how football writer Ed Tait described the Bomber head coach back in 2002: "While fluent in the English language, the Winnipeg Blue Bomber boss often veers off into homespun analogies that beg for some kind of translation. They are part Yogi Berra, part Forrest Gump, part Homer Simpson and absolutely, positively unique to the sporting world."

Here is some of the Best of Dave from back in the day:

"I think so... no, I know so. A lot of times I say I think so when I know so. So, when I say I think so, just take for granted I know so."

"We are the underdogs. Everybody in the CFL says we're going to get beat handily. I know we've played well enough to be the upperdog in the avenue of dogs. It's going to be a junkyard dogfight... at Canad Inns Pound."

"I want to talk about Atilla the Hun. He's a good guy. I named our first defence after him. The Cossacks... Atilla the Hun... walking across the bears doing a dance. Putting one leg down and letting them eight or nine bears try to get him. Our defence (back in military academy) came to the forefront and I called them Cossacks. The Cossacks used to put all their enemies on this little log and make them walk and when the guy fell off, they went into the bears."

Media guy: "The Cossacks were Russians, weren't they?"Ritchie: "That's all right. It doesn't matter who they were. They were mean dudes. They could dance with one leg out and one leg up. Here I go again. You guys are going to make it out like I'm crazy."

"Right now I feel like I'm Santa Claus. Or that little Irishman that gives everything away... a leprechaun? That's what I feel like. Candy and what is it? Candy and nuts... if its and buts were candy and nuts we'd all have a Merry Christmas."

History

Updated on Thursday, August 28, 2014 at 8:18 AM CDT: Replaces photo

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